Satellites can be deployed into orbit to provide various space-based operations, such as military and civilian observation operations, communications operations, navigation operations, weather operations, and research operations. Satellites can include various sensors and communication equipment that are used to perform desired tasks. However, most satellites deployed in orbit comprise custom-made components that are expensive to create. Organizations that desire to deploy satellite devices may not have in-house resources to design and build satellites customized to specific needs or applications. Moreover, these organizations may not require the use of an entire satellite with a large number of sensors, or may not require continuous operations on an entire satellite. As a result, organizations may avoid the use of satellites, limiting the use of promising satellite technology.
Furthermore, when many satellites are to be deployed, then custom design, machining, manufacturing, and implementation can all add significantly to the development costs. The structural bodies of orbital satellites, space-faring probes, and some spacecraft are typically custom-made or handmade. These structural bodies, referred to herein as spacecraft buses, are normally machined, cut, bonded, or molded, using very labor-intensive techniques. Each resulting spacecraft bus is semi-custom. Due to the handmade nature of these items, portions of a spacecraft bus tend to be irregular, at least to some extent. Not only are spacecraft buses time-consuming to manufacture, but the cost is considerable as well. Furthermore, the resulting buses are not uniform.
CubeSats have been recently introduced and comprise satellite devices having a uniform, albeit small, size that allows for a more consistent manufacturing process. Nevertheless, the efficiency of CubeSat production can be improved. Moreover, the small size of CubeSats limits the quantity of internal components as well as the provided functionality.
Overview
Various enhanced power supply configurations for satellite devices are discussed herein. In one example, satellite device includes a chassis and a power control module. The satellite device also includes an array of polygonal-shaped power units combined into a geometric arrangement by disposing the polygonal-shaped power units around the power control module within the chassis. In some examples, the polygonal-shaped power units comprise a rhomboid chassis or enclosure that provides arrangement into a hexagonal array when coupled to eight further rhomboid power units. Other polygonal arrays can be formed using arrangements of the repeating polygonal-shaped power units.
This Overview is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Technical Disclosure. It should be understood that this Overview is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor should it be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.